EUWC Monday Night Brawl
EUWC Monday Night Brawl (Also known as TakeDown & Blackout) was a weekly and bi-weekly 2-hour television broadcast airing on FOX featuring superstars and wrestling matches from the Extreme Universal Wrestling Corporation. In its latest incarnations, the show featured a split roster from EUWC Main Frame with a different set of Championships. Origins of Monday Night Brawl Not too much data is available on Monday Night Brawl’s origins prior to 2005 as most of the data is being with held at EUWC Headquarters. Reborn & Return of Monday Night Brawl (March 17th to April 14th 2003) With the EUWC coming out of a 12- month hiatus, Monday Night Brawl returned for a short while along with EUWC's newest show Mainframe. MNB was scheduled to be a bi-weekly wrestling show on Monday nights with Mainframe being weekly on Friday nights. The first live show was held at the Bell Centre in Montreal Quebec on March 17, 2003. The show featured Matt Pickstock's return to the EUWC as the new Commissioner and his announcement regarding the EUWC World Championship Tournament. In the Main Event, "Mr. Main Event" Rob Sampson took on "Reverend" Jakob McLean in a Grudge Match. Other matches saw the new United States Champion Ryan "The Show" Baker made his very first title defense against Samuel Roundtree, and the tag team of Nero & Big "G" took on the untested team of Sean Taylor and Scott Samson. Plus "Hot" Kevin Knight vs. "The Sasquatch" Jacob Lawrence and Neighborhood Sniper vs. Lord Alucard were also featured. The second show was held on April 14, 2003, however it was announced on 19 April 2003 that MNB would no longer be aired and replaced by a weekly feature show titled EUWC Backstage Axxess every Monday night. This show would be a feature based program to bring the EUWC Fans up to date on all of the events in the EUWC, recapping all the top stories, feature rumors, a weekly intimate interview, promos, Match of the Week, and Wrestler of the Week awards. The Darius Hunter Era (October 17th 2005 – April 6th 2006) Monday Night Brawl returned to the airwaves on 17 October 2005 under the new management of Darius Hunter. MNB acted as EUWC’s second brand apart from Main Frame during the roster split which provided MNB with its own roster of superstars such as Paul Doom, Rocko Daymon, Texas Lightning, Hawkeye, T. Waring, Danny Collins, Neighborhood Sniper and groups such as Celtic Pride etc. The show also held exclusive rights to the EUWC International and North American Championships, whereas the World Heavyweight and Tag Team Champions would be featured on both Mainframe and MNB. Darius Hunter (MNB) and Matt Pickstock (Main Frame) conducted a Draft Lottery for their shows’ superstars from the current EUWC Talent Pool on October 9, 2005 during an episode of EUWC Main Frame. By the end of Main Frame, those chosen by Hunter would appear solely on Monday Night Brawl beginning October 17. The only exceptions were the World Heavyweight and Tag Champions, who would appear on both shows. When one of those Champions lost their title, they would join the show to which they lost the belt(s) on. The new Champion would then be able to compete on both shows. EUWC Take Down on Thursday Nights On 17 November 2005, only a month after MNB returned, Darius Hunter announced that MNB was being moved to Thursday nights instead of Mondays. The reason cited was that as Main Frame was being aired on Sunday nights, it would be ideal if the shows had a gap in a week in order to create a loyal audience. The show was also renamed to EUWC Take Down, featuring the original MNB superstars that it started with. Darius Hunter managed Take Down till he resigned in April 2006, with the April 6th episode being his last. Exact reasons are yet unknown, however it has been cited that Hunter wished to pursue other interests. Also, Matt Pickstock has been vocal that Hunter resigned due to Take Down's losses against Mainframe at Superiority II. The Leo Silver Era (April 14th 2006 – August 2007) The April 14th 2006 episode of Take Down featured the announcement and arrival of Leo Silver as the new General Manager of Take Down, after Darius Hunter had resigned in the previous week. Silver took control of Take Down and all contracted superstars, using all of his powers to keep Take Down a well oiled machine. EUWC Blackout On August 11, 2006, Leo Silver made a major announcement to rename Take Down to EUWC Blackout, while retaining its Thursday night slot on FOX. The show under Silver’s management saw initiatives such as the “Rise to the Top” tournament, acquisition of Angel of Death from Main Frame, creation of a new EUWC Championship belt to rival the World Heavyweight Championship (exclusive to Mainframe) and also 3 full exclusive Blackout Pay Per View offerings, namely eXile, Excessive Force and Uprising. Leo Silver also had the unfortunate task of “trimming the fat” by letting go of some un-enthusiastic superstars such as "The Reverend" Jakob Mclean, John Young, "The Messiah" Karsten Femrite, The Glamour Boys, and The Unbelievable Connection from their Takedown contracts. Leo Silver managed Blackout for a record amount of time, and also led Blackout in its final turf war against Main Frame. The war culminated at Ultra Brawl IX where all titles and rosters entered unification during September 2007, and Blackout emerging victorious in the inter-promotional 10 Man Elimination Tag Team Match. Leo Silver was assaulted and left bloddy by Buck Naked before Ultra Brawl IX. The status of Leo Silver post the unification is currently unknown. Return of Monday Night Brawl (13th August 2007) Monday Night Brawl returned to television on 13 August 2007 after the EUWC returned from a break following the events of Superiority IV in May 2007. Regular broadcasts for Main Frame and Blackout were suspended indefinitely, however MNB featured a turf war between both shows, orchestrated by their GMs Pickstock and Silver. The war culminated at Ultra Brawl IX where all titles and rosters entered unification during September 2007, and Blackout won the inter-promotional 10-Man Elimination Tag Team Match with STEALTH being the sole survivor for Blackout. Subsequently, with the rosters unified, Main Frame and Blackout were now solely being aired as Monday Night Brawl on Monday nights. Prominent Roster Members Episode Guide Monday Night Brawl 2003 Monday Night Brawl 2005 TakeDown 2005 TakeDown 2006 Blackout 2006 Blackout 2007 Monday Night Brawl 2007 Notable Developments North American Championship The defunct North American Championship was resurrected for EUWC Monday Night Brawl and was decided in a triple threat match between Lt. Hawkeye, Cuchulain and Tony Delucci at Blood Bath 2005. Lt. Hawkeye won the match to capture NA Title that night, and held it for 52 days before losing it to Cuchulain at Superiority III after a heated rivalry. Cuchulain held the title for 39 days before losing it to a formidable Artur Arina on an episode of Take Down, thus recording it as the first title change on the show broadcast. Angel of Death also won the title on Take Down from Arina, and the N.A. Championship exchanged hands between Newfy Jack, Violent K and Braden Kincaid in that order. Rocko Daymon vs. Texas Lightning Reigning International Champion Rocko Daymon had a heated rivalry with the Southwestern Icon Texas Lightning, which resulted in several matches on MNB and Take Down. Their most epic encounter was at Superiority III in the first ever Beaker of Blood or Blood Draw match for Daymon’s International Championship. The rules were that in order to win, the competitor would have to draw enough blood from his opponent to fill a beaker. While being a very violent and bloody match, the referee declared the match a no-contest as both competitors were exhausted and motionless in the ring. Regardless, Daymon retained the International Championship. The Saga of Sanket Desai For weeks, Sanket Desai has been ranting and raving backstage, in the audiences, and virtually to anyone who would listen, about how he was not getting a contract in the EUWC. Darius Hunter noted this and offered Sanket a chance to join Take Down, if he could defeat Ssazz in a match. However, the match ended in DQ as John Doe, a Main Frame superstar, interfered and informed everyone that he would personally face Sanket for his shot at the EUWC contract. However, that match ended in a double count-out, and Sanket managed to get the contract anyway, much to the dismay of John Doe. Main Frame vs. Take Down Both GMs Pickstock and Hunter were involved in an inter-promotional rivalry, which prompted them to include their brand superstars into the fray. The rivalry saw members from Main Frame such as Classy Mike C, Chet Jenkins and Samuel Roundtree invade Take Down broadcasts, while Jared McCallister, Rocko Daymon and Jakob McLean represented Take Down. The feud culminated on March 23, 2006 at a broadcast on Take Down where Team Take Down defeated Team Main Frame in a 6-man Tag Team match. Rise to the Top Tournament Leo Silver announced a Rise to the Top tournament for Take Down superstars, with the winner receiving a World Heavyweight Championship match at eXile, a Take Down exclusive PPV. The tournament included superstars such as T. Waring, Evol, Rocko Daymon, Cuchulain, Kobra, The Monster, “The Icon” Jared McCallister, Hawkeye, Ssazz, Sanket Desai, Artur Arina, Ray Santana, "The Hitman" Tony Delucci, Texas Lightning, "Unbelievable" Aaron Andrews, "Reverend" Jakob Mclean. The final match of the tournament saw The Commander T.Waring defeat Aaron Andrews to win the tournament and get a title shot against Classy Mike C at eXile. Trades and Acquisitions Blackout and Main Frame had constant trades of superstars among the brands. The notable acquisitions to Blackout were Adam Benjamin, Angel of Death, Black Widow, and Lynch Garrison. Blackout also introduced several new superstars such as Newfy Jack, Violent K, Braden Kincaid etc. and also former World Champions such as Damian Stone and STEALTH. Exclusive EUWC Championship At Summer Sizzler 2006, Main Frame GM Matt Pickstock of Main Frame signed both Jay Smash and then World Heavyweight Champion Adam Benjamin to exclusive Main Frame contracts. This left Blackout without a World Heavyweight Champion, a move made, according to Silver, without any prior knowledge, notification or mutual agreement. As a quick measure of revenge, Silver declared EUWC Tag Team Championships exclusive to Blackout as Blackout superstars The Diabolic Forces were reigning champions then. Despite this, Silver felt that Blackout would suffer a huge setback if it couldn’t challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship, which is why he introduced the EUWC Championship belt. This title would be exclusive to Blackout and held by a man representing Blackout as its champion. To crown a new EUWC Champion, Silver also announced a one night, single elimination tournament on the first Blackout aired at August 24, 2006. This tournament would feature sixteen of the best Blackout superstars to vying for the gold, such Angel of Death, Cuchulain, Damien Dante Stone, Hawkeye, Joe Boyer, Lynch Garrison, Newfy Jack, Sevyn, T. Waring etc. By the end of Blackout's debut show, Cuchulain was crowned the first ever EUWC Champion. The EUWC Championship was held by Cuchulain, with contenders such as Angel of Death, Hawkeye, Lynch Garrison, Damian Stone and T. Waring. The title has only been held by Cuchulain and Hawkeye, who defeated Cuchulain to become the second and last EUWC Champion. The EUWC Title remained exclusive to Blackout till it was supposed to be unified with the World Heavyweight Championship at Ultra Brawl IX. However, the belt was unified with no winner declared as Matt Pickstock declared the match a no contest and vacated the newly unified title. Exclusive Pay-Per-View Offerings The Blackout brand would be featured on major EUWC PPVs, which would hence become co-brand Pay-Per-Views including matches from MNB and Main Frame. Events such as Blood Bath, Superiority, Summer Sizzler, Ultra Brawl, & the Chad Dupree Memorial would feature matches from both shows, and even inter-promotional matches. Blackout also had its own brand specific events throughout the year as well, namely: eXile (May), Excessive Force (November), and Uprising. EUWC eXile III May 28, 2006 Mellon Arena Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania #Dwight Jackson vs Kar Femrite #'World Tag Team Championship Contender's Match: '''Salvation vs. The Glamour Boys vs. The Unbelievable Connection vs. Celtic Pride #'Steel Cage Match:' "Yours Truly" Adam Benjamin vs Angel of Death #'EUWC North American Championship Match: © Artur Arina vs Tony DeLucci #'''EUWC International Championship Match: © Hawkeye vs Cuchulain #'Street fight:' Paul Doom vs "Reverend" Jakob McLean #'Main Event - EUWC World Heavyweight Championship Match: '© "Classy" Mike C vs "Commander" T. Waring EUWC Excessive Force November 5, 2006 Delta Center Salt Lake City, Utah #Saint Xavor vs "The Hitman" Tony DeLucci #"The Thriller" Braden Kincaid vs Damian Dante Stone #'$25000 Ladder Match:' "The Hazard" Lynch Garrison defeated "Homicidal" Trent Acid #'EUWC World Tag Team Championship Match:' © Diabolic Forces vs. The Skycscrappers #'EUWC North American Championship Match - Triple Threat Match: '"The Hatchet Man" Violent K defeated C) Newfy Jack & Sanket Desai to win the North American Championship #'EUWC International Championship Match: '''Sevyn defeated Hawkeye © to win the International Championship #'Main Event - EUWC Championship:' © "The Hound of Ulster" Cuchulain defeated Angel of Death to retain the title. EUWC Uprising March 25, 2007 Continental Airlines Arena East Rutherford, New Jersey #'Hardcore Match:' Newfy Jack defeated Sanket Desai after a powerbomb onto the guard rail. #The Skyscrappers defeated the Four Star Pimps when Viktor Cruz pinned Sean Mack with the Eliminator. #"The Almighty Dollar" Jordan Turner defeated General Bromhead with the Bankruptcy. #'EUWC International Championship Match:' Sevyn defeated Jonathan Darkstar after a frog splash through a table to retain the title. #'EUWC World Tag Team Championship Match:' Diabolic Forces defeated Damien Dante Stone & Newfy Jack when Molloch pinned DDS after hitting him with a title belt. Diabolic Forces retained the World Tag Team Titles. #'EUWC North American Championship Match: "The Thriller" Braden Kincaid defeated "The Hatchet Man" Violent K with the Thrill Ride to become the New North American Champion. #'''Main Event - EUWC Championship - Hades Dungeon Match: Hawkeye defeated Angel of Death, STEALTH & Lynch Garrison to retain the EUWC Championship. Category:Shows taking place every Monday Category:Shows taking place every Thursday Category:Federation Shows Category:Brands Category:Federation Events Category:EUWC Media